Virginia Union University (VUU) is a private four-year, fully accredited, liberal arts, historically black institution located in Richmond, Virginia. In 1865, on the site of a former slave jail, VUU was founded to provide quality education when few opportunities were available to African-Americans at colleges across the nation. Although much has changed in the years since VUU held its first classes, it has remained committed to its fundamental mission and goals. Today, the University seeks, on a continuous basis, to upgrade itself and better prepare its students to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. The proposed MBRS RISE Program is designed to increase the interest, skills, and competitiveness of students in the Department of Natural Sciences in the pursuit of biomedical research careers. The specific goals of the program, therefore, are: 1) to increase the course completion rate of students in introductory biology and chemistry "gatekeeper" courses from the current 46% to 75% at the end of the four year award period, 2) to provide introductory research experiences to 15-20 sophomores (i.e., 25-33% of the average class) each year, and 3) to increase by 50% each year, the number of students who have the qualifications to participate in research training programs.